Friday, October 21, 2011

Larry Crowne (Tom Hanks) loses his job at a big retail store. Despite being a good employee, he is fired simply because he has no college education. After mopping about his unfortunate situation, he decides to pursue a college education.

In the process, he meets a merry assortment of people. The kind of people Larry wouldn't normally associate with, let alone be friends with. He also finds romance with his speech professor played by the effervescent Julia Roberts. Yes I basically revealed the entire plot, well it was rather predictable from the get go, right?

The supporting characters are portrayed by a generally likable cast. This includes George Takei from Star Trek as an economics professor, Pam Grier and stand up comedian Cedric the Entertainer. But sadly, they’re all mono-dimensional, one-note, sitcom silhouettes, given little to do except provide an ethnically mixed comedic background.

Naturally, the success of the film falls on the shoulders of Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts. They have good chemistry together playing pretty bland but nonetheless endearing characters. But the main flaw in the story is that Larry Crowne is not particularly interesting — a nice guy, but not going to set the world on fire.

To conclude, even Hanks and Roberts, two of Hollywood’s most likeable superstars who are as likeable as ever here, can't quite sell this predictable rom-com. The story lacked depth with too many side plots that simply didn't add up.

Rather, it simply wants to be a nice little romantic comedy with a positive vibe. In that aspect, it is. Sometimes, that's enough. While other times, you'd expect more from two high caliber stars!